Jalandhar
Oxygen cylinder explodes: A major tragedy was averted at Basant Vihar last night following the explosion of an oxygen cylinder lying inside an Indica car. The explosion also damaged the car. Nobody was injured as the car owner Vikas and driver Gyan Singh had got down from the car a few seconds before the explosion.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
CM's initiative hailed: The Uttarakhand Congress Committee’s Gorkha cell has welcomed CM Vijay Bahuguna’s initiative to seek the establishment of a Gorkha Army training centre in the state from Union Defence Minister. He had met Union Defence Minister AK Antony in Delhi a day ago and asked him to set up a training centre in the state. It also greeted the CM for raising the issues of ex-servicemen settled in the state.

Kumaon Briefs

Lok adalat in Almora on April 18: A mega lok adalat will be held in Almora on April 18. The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Mohammad Sultan, said cases pertaining to road accidents, marital discord, revenue matters and other minor civil cases would be taken up at the lok adalat for on-the-spot disposal. Sultan called upon the people to take part in the lok adalat to know about their legal rights. He asked the litigants to get their cases disposed of.

Woman falls to death:
A woman was killed after she fell from a tree in the Tanakpur area of Champawat district. The deceased has been identified as 28-year-old Babita, a resident of Thwalkheda village. It is learnt that Babita had climbed the tree adjacent to the Kiroda nullah to gather green leaves for her animals. She was rushed to a community health centre where she was declared brought dead.

75-year-old falls from train, dies:
A septuagenarian was killed when he fell down from a train in the Tanakpur area of Champawat district. It is learnt that 75-year-old Kripa Shankar, a native of Pakritola in Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh, was going to Purnagiri along with his family when the incident took place. Shankar fell from the train while trying to alight from the train and died. The body was handed over to the aggrieved family after a post-mortem.

Body of youth found:
The body of a youth was found near the Jhalchauna area. He has been has been identified as Rajendra Singh Bhauryal, a resident of Chankana village. Rajendra was living with his maternal parents at Jhalchauna. His motorcycle was found lying close to the body. The exact cause of his death was yet to be ascertained. The police has started investigation.

Elephants damage crops:
Elephants have destroyed standing crop on large tracts of land in the Lal Dhang and Jhirna areas on the outskirts of Jim Corbett National Park. Most of the damage to the crop was done by a group of 10 elephants at Aampokhra village. The villagers have demanded a long-term plan for checking the repeated damage to their crops by elephants. They have demanded that a protection wall be build around the village to restrict the elephants from entering the area. Officials of the Forest Department are accessing the loss caused by the tuskers.